Facebook post aids sweltering seniors in adult home

Fans fill the back of a vehicle after Maria Friske started the Fan Club on Facebook to get relief for residents of Shire Senior Living, which was not fully air conditioned. Friske is back in 2017 collecting donations of fans and working with Lifespan to collect money to buy fans.(Photo: Provided by Maria Friske)

While the rest of us should enjoy the first workdays since June without temperatures cracking 90 degrees, relief started last week for residents of an adult care home in Irondequoit.

Maria Friske, who lives a few houses away from Shire Senior Living, shared on her Facebook page a chance encounter with a resident who said he wasn’t sleeping because of the heat. Friends and friends of friends responded, and so far more than three dozen fans have been delivered to the facility.

“She has just taken this on,” said Ann Marie Cook, president and chief executive officer of Lifespan.

In August 2016, Maria Friske posted on Facebook about residents of an adult home needing fans, and she said the response was overwhelming.(Photo: Provided by Maria Friske)

“I spent the weekend crying because I’ve been so happily overwhelmed,” said Friske, 53, a graphic designer who works in Webster. “So many people want to help. So many people just didn’t know, like I, that people needed fans. The first reaction is it breaks your heart. The second reaction when you see all the outpouring of people helping is joy.”

Shire Senior Living is not required by the state Department of Health to have air conditioning in residents’ rooms.

Among the guidelines: Facilities are required to have at least one common area that is air conditioned. Shire Senior Living, 2515 Culver Road, has air conditioning in the dining room, common areas and some resident rooms, according to a statement from the department’s press office. Residents may purchase an air conditioner, but many in the residence for low-income people can’t afford a window unit or perhaps a fan. They also may not have a way to get to a store.

"I think it's a great thing that neighbors are coming together," said Brian Rosenman, who has operated Shire Senior Living for about a year.

He said a project is underway to replace the air handlers in the hallways, which will make them cooler. He said also would make rooms colder when the doors are open.

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"We're constantly going to do upgrades," he said. "... It's a large facility. You can't snap your fingers and give everybody air conditioning. I know we've had a hot snap. We've addressed that by investing in equipment in the hallways, which will help the rooms."

Friske recalled a conversation with a resident last week when he was in the neighborhood collecting bottles and cans. They started talking about the heat, and he said he was unable to sleep because his room was so hot.

Friske said she asked if he had a fan. He said no. She asked if he’d like one, and then got one out of her basement and brought it back with him to the facility.

When they got to his room, she told him, “I’ve got to get a bigger fan.”

She recounted the experience on her page, and the response was immediate.

Friends dropped off fans at her house, and one went to Lowe's in Webster and bought in bulk. Friske received fans from friends who recently moved to Vermont.

As of Monday, she said about 40 fans have been delivered. She said wants to get a fan for everyone at Shire Senior Living who needs one and plans to meet with Lifespan to figure out how to get fans to residents of other senior facilities. According to the state, Shire Senior Living has about 175 residents. The facility is licensed for 200 beds.

Friske since has started the Fan Club page to provide updates.

“I think this is a wonderful story about social media,” said Melinda Goldberg, who saw an early post and connected Friske with Lifespan. She also shared the sentiments on her page. “My birthday was Saturday. I was getting all these nice Facebook wishes. I put something on Facebook saying what a wonderful tool Facebook is for reminding us of each other’s birthdays, and also for the social impact it could make. Then I put something up about making donations to Lifespan for fans for the elderly.”

Alana Russell, coordinator of the ombudsman program housed at Lifespan, said many older buildings don’t have central air conditioning. “This is not unique to Shire,” she said.

Friske said the experience has opened her eyes to the needs of many residents in senior facilities. She said she wanted to form a group that would continue to help Shire residents.

“People have all kinds of ideas,” she said. “We’re excited.”

She said a worker said that the delivery of fans was “ ‘the nicest thing that anybody from the outside ever did for us.’ I said it was just because we didn’t know. Now we know.”